USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
Granville R. Palmer, captain ; Harry A. Clarke,* first lieutenant; James MI. Gilmore,* second lieutenant; Elton E. Fay,* first sergeant; Edwin O. Glenn, quartermaster sergeant ; James L. Madden, veterinary sergeant : Charles A. Bris- tol .* Granville MI. King .* Robert N. La Fontaine,* John E. McCabe, William M. Daily and John F. Rigdon, sergeants: Edward W. Hirst, Rufus W. Shrader, William C. Mills, Joseph T. Dyer, William C. Wolcott, Robert B. Graham, Albert G. Cayler and Charles W. Mahan,* corporals ; Thomas A. Sladden and Robert McFadden, farriers ; Edwin C. Mentz and James Sullivan, artificers ; John Olson, saddler : William Dillman * and Isaac W. Dreifuss, trumpeters; John F. Farrell,* wagoner.
Privates-Glenn W. Abbott,* Emil G. Abry,* John Anderson, Peter Anderson, Alonzo A. Bailey,* David Barnett,* George Barth,* Frank Bradley, George Bris- tol, Herman A. Brookhart," Clifford H. Buck,* Charles Bushman,* John Caffrey,* James H. Connors,* Ernest R. B. Croston, Henry L. Dale, John Darling.# George H. Davis,* John L. DeCory.# William DeHaas,* Charles S. Elkins, Daniel R. Ellis,* William M. Enslow .* Gus Fardy, Edward B. Fear, Fay Fifield,* Malcolm L. Freed, George B. Gale, Ira L. Garner,* William Gauff, William Gideon,* Martin E. Goden, Sidney D. Gonser,* Joseph P. Green, Edward Guinan, August Gustafson, William Haner,* Albert Hefele, Andrew Hoffman, Arthur C. Holway, Herbert Hollyman,* John G. Honnold, James Humphrey, George A. Jackson, James S. Jackson,“ Howard H. Jordan, Martin Joyce," August Keilquist, John Kroeger, John T. Lane,# Victor Lardi,* Lauritz A. P. Lasson, Peter Lawless,* Abe Levett, Alsinon C. Lish, William J. McCall, Marion McCullum,* Robert S. McDole, Edward L. McKiernan, Charles J. Marble, John Martin, Edward Meredith,* George Monroe,* John Mulligan, Herbert A. Murphy, John Oliver. Otto Pearson, John Peterson, Peter Peterson,* John Pointinen,* Charles Porter- field .* John J. Quinn, Andreas Rasmussen, John Rawson,* John P. Reedy,* Frank Robidon,* James F. Roberts,* Lee B. Sackett, Emil A. Sandberg. W. A. Schilling .* William Sehestedt, Don L. Shirley. Frank J. Sinex. James T. Slane, George H. Smith,* Leslie E. Snow,* Martin Stamm," Henry Steinhoff, William A. Stone, Oliver E. Swartz,* Edwin P. Taylor, Joseph Templin, William L. Tighe, Frank J. Timmins,* Bryant Turner,* William Van Noy, Herbert E. Wale, Charles Willard, William Weir .*
NOTE-Lieut. Harry A. Clarke was promoted to the captaincy on November 12, 1898, upon the death of Captain Palmer. Not all the men named on the above muster roll accom- panied the battery to the Philippines, and several were discharged before the battery returned home. Those who were mustered out with the battery on September 23, 1899, are marked with a *.
298
HISTORY OF WYOMING
On June 24, 1898, the battery started for San Francisco, where it remained in different camps and under different commanders until November 8. 1898, when it embarked on the transport Newport, with Brig .- Gen. M. P. Miller's command, and arrived at Manila on the 7th of December. It served under various com- manders in the Military District of Cavite until July 8, 1899, when the guns were turned over to the Sixth United States Artillery and the men returned home with the Wyoming battalion on the steamer Grant, arriving at San Francisco or. August 29, 1899.
In his message to the Legislature on January 9, 1901, Governor De Forest Richards said: "When the news reached Wyoming that our state troops, after their arduous campaign in the Philippines, were about to be returned to their homes, it was the general sentiment of our people that Wyoming should follow the example of other states and provide transportation for our soldiers from San Francisco to their homes. The intention in doing this was to arrange it so that our brave soldiers, many of whom were weak and debilitated from a long service in a foreign clime, might save the travel pay allowed them by the General Government and not reach their homes utterly destitute.
"The people of the state demanded that this be done, and as there were no funds available, several hundred public spirited gentlemen from all over the state, signed two notes, one to the Stockgrowers National Bank and one to the First National Bank of Cheyenne, dated August 24, 1899, for $4,442.10 bearing 6 per cent interest per annum, and with these funds our volunteers were transported to their various homes without cost to themselves, thus being shown in the most satisfactory manner the appreciation in which their services were held by the state."
Upon the recommendation of the governor, the Legislature made an appro- priation sufficient to pay the notes, and also made an appropriation of $750 for the purpose of securing medals for the members of the battalion and battery, each medal being inscribed with the name of the recipient, etc.
TORREY'S ROUGH RIDERS
In addition to the troops already mentioned, Wyoming furnished seven troops to the Second United States Volunteer Cavalry, more commonly known as "Tor- rey's Rough Riders." The regiment was raised by Col. Jay L. Torrey, a Wyoming man, who commanded it during its entire term of service. Troops A and B came from Colorado: C, E, F, G. H, K and L, from Wyoming; D, from Idaho; I, from Utah : and M, from Nevada. Of the field and staff officers, Wyoming furnished Col. Jay L. Torrey ; Maj. James G. Harbord; Lieut. Herbert V. Lacey, adjutant ; Lieut. Fred Rapp, quartermaster : Capt. Henry G. Golden, chaplain ; Maj. Morti- mer Jesurum, chief surgeon.
Troop C was recruited in the vicinity of Laramie and was mustered in at Fort D. A. Russell on May 23, 1898, with the following officers and enlisted men: George R. Shanton, captain; Morgan F. Knadler, first lieutenant: William J. Abrams, second lieutenant; Charles W. Gilmore, first sergeant; Otto Zoller, quartermaster sergeant ; George S. Kline, Brutus H. Clay, Joseph T. Orr, Charles K. Harrington and Chris J. Silberg, sergeants; William A. Grosvenor, William J. Sine, Herman C. Peterson, Winter P. Hepburn, Thomas C. Hunt, Albert R.
299
HISTORY OF WYOMING
King, Mortimer McKnight and Fred C. Hecht, corporals ; Herbert Wallis and Hiram F. Davis, trumpeters; Charles M. Johnson and Jonas H. Farr, farriers ; Charles Trew, saddler ; Willis D. Jacus, wagoner.
Troopers-Joseph Aaron, Kirt Acor, Daniel L. Aldridge, James Barber, George WV. Barker, Alfred A. Benjamin, Patrick Boyle, Henry A. Brown, Harvey B. Burk, George H. Burke, Arthur W. Chesebro, DeWitt Clary, Samuel Coen, Wil- liam Craver, Tony Cuerden, Frank Curren, Alfred Daykin, Charles S. Dunlap, Sidney H. Dyer, Jack Fee, Jr., Hugh A. Ferguson, Paul Flackstein, Frank Flaherty, George R. Gardner, Harry Griffin, Rasmus Hansen, Hans T. Hansen, Tim Hamlin, Frederick C. Jenkins, Samuel Johnson, William E. Johnston, Meredith Jones, Fred Kassahn, William E. King, Hans T. Kulewatz, Cornelius Lenihan, Frank A. May, Charles W. Mans, Henry S. Mapes, John C. Matheson, Christian W. Miller, Hugh M. McPhee, Andrew C. Neilsen, James U. Nisbet, Adolph A. Olsen, Perry Parish, Albert F. Price, Frank P. Price, Charles B. Peirce, John J. Schenck, Lewis Sherwood, George Schaefer, Henry Steltz, William C. Tipler, Hugh Vass, William B. Wallace, James E. Walsh, Harry H. Whitman, William C. Whittenberg.
Troop E was recruited in the counties of Sheridan, Crook and Weston and was mustered into the United States service at Fort D. A. Russell on May 23, 1898, with the following officers and men: Henry H. Austin, captain ; Norvel H. Baker, first lieutenant ; Lewis S. Magruder, second lieutenant; T. J. Gatchell, first sergeant; Daniel L. Van Meter, quartermaster sergeant; George L. Wade, Harve Springer, Patrick J. Conway, Philo Carmon, George Skinner and Robert Long, sergeants ; Arthur C. Schneider, Guy Campbell, Charles S. Brown, Elliott WV. Brown, Joseph Sellers, Edward Anderson, William Hymer and Bird Moore, corporals ; Truman L. Fox and Anton Jenson, trumpeters, Herman Gerdel and William McWilliams, farriers; Milo Hamilton, saddler; Frank Valentine, wagoner.
Troopers-Richard Alleyne, Guy R. Barton, Ross Bennett, Charles C. Blake, William E. Bollen, Joseph L. Bomar, Marnus J. Cannon, Peter Cannon, Edward Clark, John Cole, Russell Conger, Harry L. Cooper, Harry Cosgriff, Albert M. Crafts, James W. Croghan, John Davey, William Davis, John Davaney, Frank Dooley, Benjamin F. Draper, Arthur Evans, Benjamin Freeman, Carl Gleason, John Gurney, Clarence E. Heffner, William J. House, Charles Hulett, Charles Kolberg, Arthur Krusee, Harry M. Krusee, Wesley Leaming, John Loafman, Finley Lowry, Roland J. Lytle, Eugene McCarthy, Henry McConaghy, James H. Magoon, William Moncrieffe, Samuel B. Pohlman, Chris Rasmussen, Burl Robinett, Alonzo Robinett, Walter Robinson, James F. Rose, Charles Ross, Luther M. Roush, Warren Sawyer, Nelson Simpson, Edward J. Smith, Guy L. Smith, Archie Sollars, David Spitz, Jacob E. Stauffer, Daniel Sweeney, Robert C. Wilkerson, Paul Willitts, Charles F. Wilson, Frank E. Wood.
Troop F came from Rock Springs, Green River and Cheyenne. It was mustered in at Fort Russell on May 27, 1898, with Willis F. Hoadley as captain ; Leonard L. Deitrick, first lieutenant ; Thomas J. King, second lieutenant ; Frank Kidd, first sergeant ; Daniel B. Shields, quartermaster sergeant ; John .A. Jackson, George E. Artist, George Landenberger, George D. Solomon, William A. Craw- ford and Jeremiah Maly, sergeants; John W. Peters, Bert McClure, Angus J. Matheson, Jacob L. Parrott, Frank C. Wells, Melville W. James, Josiah H.
300
HISTORY OF WYOMING
Eardley and John E. O'Riley, corporals; Frank J. Gunther and Edward F. Ely. trumpeters ; Lucius A. Place, saddler ; James Paulson, wagoner.
Troopers-Benjamin Benz, Joseph Bird, Henry C. Bloom, John N. Bodendick, John E. Brooks, Samuel K. Brown, Morrison Chester, Charles W. Cole. Bert Collins, Thomas Craig, Allison Davis, Walter Durbin, Albert B. Ekdall, Max Fairbanks, William Farley, Rufus E. Garner, Frederick Hagen, Patrick W. Haley, Frank O. Johnson, Leo Leffler, Milton M. Lewis, George H. McBride, James W. McGuire, Robert McKlem, Arthur Maher, Robert Manassa, Philip Michaels, William D. Moffatt. John Muir, Robert Myers, Charles O'Brien, Wil- liam O'Brien, James H. Patterson, Harry N. Pauley, Walter J. Peckham, Emile Peterson, Edward Petteys, Charles A. Pierson, Ellsworth Porter, Lawrence Riordan, George G. Robinson, George W. Sadlier, Adolph C. Saunders, Edward G. Schoel. Benjamin Smith, Edgar M. Smith, Eugen Tiberghein, Frederick O. Wale.
Troop G was raised in and around Sheridan, Charles Lenwood being especially active in recruiting. Owing to a defect in his sight, Mr. Lenwood was rejected by the board of medical examiners. Had it not been for this he would undoubtedly have been captain of the troop. It has been said of Troop G that it had "on its roster more representatives of the genus frontiersman than any other troop in the regiment. To the manner born, these men were most at home on the arid plains of the west. Sitting their horses like centaurs, they handle their 'shooting irons' with that perfection of ease and deadly aim which springs only from long familiarity."
The personnel of the troop at the time it was mustered in was as follows: John B. Mahardi, captain ; John H. Ivey, first lieutenant ; Ralph B. Cooper, second lieutenant : John Timothy, first sergeant: Joseph V. E. Marsh, quartermaster sergeant ; John G. Thornton, Robert Holland, Wallace B. Hodge, Homer R. Peret, Samuel L. Brown and Adelbert Flores, sergeants; Thomas L. Coble. Charles W. Fischer, Peter H. Jones, Clarence Milner, Oscar Palmer, Thomas H. MacCallum and James A. Brown, corporals; Ethan T. Chilcott, farrier ; Thomas E. DeNike, blacksmith; George E. Dorsey and George P. Webster, trumpeters ; Samuel E. Bayless, saddler, Augustus C. Hitt, wagoner.
Troopers-Edward F. Beam, Frank Bodle, Albert W. Bristol, Bert R. Bross, Elijah L. Brown, Frederick G. Burto, William Callahan, Alden Carpenter, George W. Curtis. John S. Dugan, John W. Embree, John G. Fletcher, William J. Fox. Thomas Gallagher, George R. Goulding, August Gronen, Alexander Hagan, Lester B. Haley, Hans P. Hansen, William C. Hopkins, Marion V. Inskeep, John F. Karling, George L. LaDomas, Charles C. Langley, John H. Latta, John C. Lee, Thorwald Leesborg, Ira Loud, John D. Lowry, William McAdam, George W. McDonald, Rudolph R. Mayer, Walter Meldrum, James Menecle, Leonard Metz, Elias O. Moore, Merion M. Moore, Joseph M. Morrow, Charles A. Peavey, John M. Pelfrey, William I. Powell, Richard H. Redmond, Arthur Reece, A. S. Rey- nolds, Charles W. Reynolds, Archie A. Sackett, Thomas Savery, Ara Sawyer, Wil- liam B. Schrantz, William Schurr, William Shoemaker, James H. Skillen, William H. Smith, Emerie Swick, Charles R. Thompson, William A. Waldo, Jeffrey E. Walker, Ford L. Wanamaker. Roy Withington.
Troop H was raised in Carbon County by Louis G. Davis, who resigned the office of sheriff for the purpose, and who was elected captain of the troop. The
301
HISTORY OF WYOMING
other officers were: Charles B. Osborne, first lieutenant ; John H. Albro, second lieutenant : John J. Fagan, first sergeant ; Frank J. Doyle, quartermaster sergeant ; George W. Sisson, Frank Wyman, Richard Higbee, Norris P. Ballou, Herman C. Franke and James Blackhall, sergeants ; Daniel J. Callahan, William M. Collins, Nelson A. Ekdahl, Edgar W. Hewitt, Clarke E. McGregor, Hartly B. Keeler, Fred M. Wolfe and William E. Lamb, corporals; Louis Stellenberger, trumpeter ; George W. McDonald, farrier ; Alfred Gasswint, saddler ; John W. Hollandsworth, wagoner.
Troopers-George W. Adams, Joseph M. Adams, Herman F. J. Anderson, Stuart M. Anderson, Edgar F. Bailey, Ernest Brink, John R. Brown, William W. Brown, James Buckley. Albert Cariboni, Duncan Carr, William H. Childers, Richard Clark, Charles H. Cook, Luke Corrigan, John Cripe, Frederick J. Davis, John H. Davis, James Demaree, John Doner, George E. Franklin, Jesse D. Fouts, John H. Glazier, Ambrose Hemingway, John M. Mott, Robert J. Houston, Oliver E. Hunter, Thomas M. Hutchinson, Chauncy Hurlburt, Evan Jones, William S. Kinnaman, William Kruger, Ralph W. Leach, John J. Madden, Edward J. Marsh, Joseph Matthews, Charles A. Meeker, Elkana B. Miller, Richard Moran, Lawrence T. Mulvaney, Martin O'Brien, George E. Parker, George E. Priest, Perry M. Richardson, Conrad Rowland, Henry W. Sacknus, James Sherwood, John Siltomaki, William H. Slee, Charles J. Talbott, Hugh Thompson, Matthew Walsh, Robert L. Wheeler, Julius Wolff.
Troop K was made up of men from Rawlins, Casper and Douglas, and was composed of expert riders and marksmen. It was mustered in at Fort D. A. Russell in the latter part of May, 1898, with the following officers and enlisted men : Morgan H. Maghee, captain; Hugh L. Patton, first lieutenant ; Alva C. Rice, second lieutenant ; Edward S. White, first sergeant ; Edward D. Johnson, quartermaster sergeant; William A. Duncan, Robert McAdams, Robert W. Wallace, Louis W. Launiere, Don A. Williams and George C. Thompson, ser- geants ; Albert J. Cook, Charles C. Carnham, Robert J. Allen, George W. Duffy, David A. Williams, Sheridan H. Reilly, George W. Timmons and Charles E. Nichols, corporals: Gustave Hakola and Albert W. Reed, farriers: Charles H. Lilly and William J. Faulkner, trumpeters; Hugi A. Beck, cook; Frank Fay, saddler ; Melvin P. Wain, wagoner.
Troopers-John W. Arden, Mathew Barber, Otto C. Bartz, Frank F. Berry, Frank H. Betz, Fred G. Boller, Lyman Brown, William O. Comstock, Thomas G. Cook, John B. Dawson, Jesse J. Dement, Jacob N. Doersam, Oscar Donoho, Richard C. Doyle, Elmer C. Edgerly, Albert L. Evans, Horace Evans. James H. Finley, Frank E. Fletcher, Raymond N. Gourley, Randall Hayes, Gilman A Hackett, Frank M. Heuet, Charles Holland, Fred R. Ingalls, John F. Janecek, Samuel P. Kennison, Charles H. Laughrey, George Lobmeir, Maurice Locknane, James McGinners, Colin J. Mackenzie, Anton Maybaum, Walter Merrill, Charles H. Moore, Jonathan Morris, Roy W. Morse, August F. Neeseman, Eugene H. O'Brien, Charles T. Paden. Frank J. Payne, Fred Roediger, Erastus W. Ruhl. Albert N. Sandberg, Frank L. Schott, Lewis D. Scott, Booker L. Smith, Bryden F. Spencer, Percy E. Springford, William E. Van Curen, James H. Webber, Elmer E. Wheeler, George E. White, Grant E. Williams, Thomas H. Williams.
Troop L was composed of men from around Evanston and Kemmerer and was mustered into the United States service on May 18, 1898, being one of the first
302
HISTORY OF WYOMING
to complete its organization. Robert A. Hocker was commissioned captain ; Edgar D. Shurtliff, first lieutenant ; Thomas W. Davies, second lieutenant. The non-commissioned officers were: Charles E. Davis, first sergeant; George Ellis, quartermaster sergeant ; Frederick Richardson, Charles Dempsey, A. C. B. Lauder, Lewis C. Marx, Martin J. Cleary and Harry Shepherd, sergeants; Henry B. Dexter, William H. Evans, Henry .V. Laskey, Sylvester Whalen, Curtis Durnford, Thomas Fife, Charles F. Coggle and James Walton, corporals; William Morrow, trumpeter ; William T. Lane and William R. Welch, farriers; John L. Lee, sad- dler ; Edward C. Sims, wagoner.
Troopers-Harold R. Amens, Case Bennett, Charles S. Beveridge, John B. Dowdige, William J. L. Carpenter, John C. Christensen, Thomas Cook, William Cook, Ralph Crumbaugh, William P. Darby, Byron C. DeLano, Norman E. Dempsey, George DeVore, Samuel J. Dickey, James Eardley, Dell GeHove, Clarence E. Gimmer, Arthur Goodman, Frank Hall, William P. Hartzell, Clarence Johnson, Joseph Johnson, Peter J. Johnson, Walter M. Johnston, Jonathan Jones, Jr., Frank Kennedy, Henry Lanstring, Clifford W. Long, Hiram Loveday, Garrett Lowham, Joseph Lowham, William R. Lush, Lewis W. McCarl, Orin McRea, James O. Mansfield, Orson Mathews, William T. Moore, Olaf Naster, Andrew Niemela, Harry Nye, E. Perkins, Glen J. Purdy, Orin Queal, Arthur L. Quinn, John Reed, Reuben A. Robinson, Henry Scharff, John Simpson, Charles H. Smith, Samuel Stover, Calvin E. Sturm, Jesse M. Taylor, James R. Tennant, Ernest Weeks, Joseph Wilkinson.
CAMP CUBA LIBRE
The regiment left Cheyenne on June 22, 1898, for Camp Cuba Libre, Jack- sonville, Fla. At Tupelo, Miss., on the 26th, the second section of the troop train ran into the first section, which resulted in the immediate death of three troopers, three others died later, and eleven others were more or less injured. The killed were Samuel Johnson, Cornelius Lenihan and William B. Wallace, all of Troop C. Those who died later were Henry S. Mapes and Henry Steltz of Troop C, and Clarence E. Gimmer, of Troop L. The injured who recovered were Col. Jay L. Torrey, Joseph Aaron, Hiran F. Davis, Jonas H. Farr, George R. Gardner, William A. Grosvenor and John J. Schenck of Troop C, Arthur Evans of Troop E, Wallace B. Hodge of Troop G, and E. Perkins and Joseph Wilkinson of Troop L. Two Colorado men were also slightly injured. The regiment remained at Camp Cuba Libre until October, when it was mustered out.
In the battalion, the battery and the Second United States Volunteer Cavalry, the State of Wyoming furnished a number of men aggregating four and a half times her preper quota, as apportioned by the war department-more in propor- tion to population than any other state in the Union.
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
In his message to the Legislature in January, 1899, Governor Richards said : "The Wyoming Volunteer Aid Association, composed of the patriotic women of the state, has inaugurated a movement for the erection of a monument to the memory of the volunteers from this state who sacrificed their lives in maintaining
303
HISTORY OF WYOMING
the honor of their country. It is desired that permission be given for the erection of this monument within the grounds of the capitol, and that a suitable contribu- tion to the fund be made by the state."
By the act of February 20, 1899, the requested permission was given and the sum of $1,500 was set apart as a "Heroes' Monument Fund," to be delivered to the Volunteer Aid Association when so ordered by the governor. The monument was erected in 1900 by LaFontaine & Bradley and was at first located immediately east of the walk leading to the main entrance of the capitol. In 1917 it was removed to its present location at the southeast corner of the capitol grounds. The monument is of Vermont granite, surmounted by the figure of a soldier in the attitude of "Taking the Oath," and inscribed with the names of the organiza- tions it was erected to honor. The figure on the top of the monument is supposed to be that of Jack Owens of Kentucky, then a soldier at Fort D. A. Russell, but the statue can hardly be said to be a "speaking likeness."
The old sutler's store, the rendezvous of famous gen- erals, scouts, explorers and hunters.
"Old Bedlam," the first building erected at Fort Laramie, used as bachelor officers' quarters and club house.
J
Officers' quarters, built of concrete by soldiers in 1881.
The old non-commissioned officers' quarters, built of concrete.
OLD FORT LARAMIE
CHAPTER XX
FORTS AND. MILITARY POSTS
EARLY TRADING POSTS-FORT LARAMIE-FREMONT'S DESCRIPTION-PARKMAN'S FIRST GLIMPSES-GENERAL KEARNEY AND THE INDIANS-EARLY EXPLORERS- THE FORT ESTABLISHED-TIDE OF EMIGRATION-EXPEDITIONS AND TREATIES- THE ROMANCE OF AH-HO-AP-PA-UNIQUE BURIAL CEREMONIES-THE SEQUEL -FORTS BRIDGER, WALBACH, HALLECK, CASPER, RENO, SANDERS, PHILIP KEARNY, FETTERMAN, FRED STEELE, WASHAKIE, STAMBAUGH, MC KINNEY, MACKENZIE- FORTS IN ADJOINING STATES.
In the chapter on Fur Traders are given descriptions of many of the early trading posts, notably Forts Adams, Bonneville, Fraeb, Hall, Henry, John, Platte, William, the Portuguese Houses, as well as some of lesser note. These were not military posts in the true sense of the term, as they were not authorized by the Government, though they played a conspicuous part in the early history of Wyoming.
FORT LARAMIE
For more than half a century Fort Laramie was the most important historical point in the great Northwest region between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast. It was the central base of supplies and a military station on the overland trails across the plains and mountains to Oregon, California and Utah, over which the "forty-niners," Mormons and Oregon emigrants treked in huge trains and cavalcades. For many years it was the rendezvous of the most powerful Indian tribes of the Northwest. It was the headquarters of the most famous explorers, hunters, trappers, scouts, guides and fur traders known in western history, in- cluding such men as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Jim Baker, Bordeau, Chatillion, La Ramie, St. Vrain, etc., and later Buffalo Bill, Frank Grouard, Big Bat and others.
Among the noted explorers and authors who at different times made camps or visits at Fort Laramie may be mentioned Captain Bonneville, Gen. John C. Fre- mont, Theodore Winthrop, Captain King, Francis Parkman, the historian, Henry M. Stanley, the African explorer, Marcus Whitman, Captain Stansbury, Eugene F. Ware and many others. Nearly all of the early United States geological sur- veys and reconnaissances made Fort Laramie a base of operations or supplies. Many important military expeditions were organized there and some of the most noted Indian treaties were there concluded.
Vol. 1-20
305
306
HISTORY OF WYOMING
As a midway station on the old Government trail, it afforded protection and a resting place to thousands of emigrants crossing the plains bound westward, who recuperated their stock on the grasses of the valleys of the North Platte and Laramie rivers and here they purchased needed supplies before entering on their long and tedious journey through the mountains. When the Indians were on the war path they were here given military escort. During its early days as a mili- tary post many of the most famous generals of the Civil war were stationed here, such as Merritt, Gibbon, Crook, Dodge, Sumner and others.
THE OLD TRADING POST
The old fort or trading post was built in 1834 by Smith, Jackson & Sublette and afterward sold to Robert Campbell, who named it Fort William after his part- ner, William L. Sublette. Mr. Campbell soon after named it Laramie, in honor of a brave French trapper who was killed on the river which also bears his name. The names, Adams, John and Platte have also been attributed to Fort Laramie, but they were simply other trading posts in that vicinity and were independent estab- lishments. Investigation shows that they were not located at the point where Fort Laramie stood and were not transferred with the old trading post when it was sold to the government. Robert Campbell sold the trading post which he had named Fort Laramie, to the American Fur Company in 1836.
To establish the separate identity of Forts Adams, John and Platte it is suffi- cient to say Fort Adams is described by Fremont as being two miles from Fort Laramie; that Fort John was built several miles away in 1839, and abandoned in 1846; and Fort Platte, three miles distant on the Platte, was not built till 1840.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.